The 2nd National Conference for Extended Scope Practitioner’s in Children’s Orthopaedics
Bedford 16-17th March 2017
Physiotherapy job roles are developing all the time to meet the changing needs of healthcare services. This conference was attended by 96 people. The delegates were from England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Gibraltar and Norway! All working in or developing extended roles within their services. The programme covered a range of orthopaedic topics. It also and maybe more importantly gave an opportunity for professionals in these roles to network and share good practice, alongside the orthopaedic consultants they are working with.
The lectures were interesting and were a good update on current medical and orthopaedic practice. All the speakers were engaging and the facilitators gave time for questions and discussion between lectures. There were only two lectures from physiotherapists sharing their practice and experience, these were great to hear. At future conferences, it would be good to hear from more physiotherapists working in ESP roles and the effect this has on services.
The practical breakout groups were excellent. The informal discussions allowed experience to be shared and reviewed. This was very useful to gain real information on what has worked well and how challenges have been overcome.
Overall I felt the conference was very informative, especially as a physiotherapist who is just developing an extended scope role. I look forward to the group of professionals who attended maintaining a network to support each other. I hope as the role and the conference develops it continues to support the work we do. The feedback reported from the delegates was very positive. The average delegate score of the lectures was 90%. Comments were made that the faculty was very welcoming, the interactive nature of the course was good, and that the information shared was appropriate and relevant.
I am certainly looking forward to the next ESP Children’s Orthopaedic Conference in 2019. I would encourage all professionals working in paediatric orthopaedics to attend and share their experience.
Sarah Dewhurst